State grant will pay to double size of Griswold Senior Center

Saturday

Grant funding approved by the state Friday will allow the Griswold Senior Center to double in size.

Grant funding approved by the state Friday will allow the Griswold Senior Center to double in size.

The State Bond Commission on Friday approved a $343,500 request to build a 3,000-square-foot addition to the senior center on Soule Street.

The addition will house rooms for exercise and academic classes as well as space for medical clinics. The grant also will pay for renovations to the kitchen. The work is expected to take nine months.

Griswold Senior Center Director Tina Falck said she was still in a happy state of shock about the news Friday night. She’s been advocating for the expansion for months.

“It doesn’t feel real yet,” she said. “We’ve been working toward this for so long. Now we’re looking forward to what happens next.”

The addition would nearly double the center’s size. Because it has a small parking area and there isn’t much available land nearby, Falck said the center will look to add a second floor, expanding upward rather than outward.

Falck said the addition is much-needed as the senior population grows in town and the programming demands become more intense.

“The most exciting thing is that we won’t have to worry about overlapping programs,” she said. “We’ve had to delay or cancel so many programs because we only have three rooms. This will help us better serve the senior community. I’m extremely thankful and I know all the seniors will be, too.”

The center is overcrowded and outdated, so the award is needed, First Selectman Philip Anthony said.

“This was a campaign promise I worked hard to keep,” he said.

Anthony said he had sought $250,000 for the expansion and credited the advocacy of the town’s legislators, state Rep. Steven Mikutel, D-Griswold, and state Sen. Andy Maynard, D-Stonington, with helping the project secure extra funding. Both men have visited the center on many occasions and have seen the cramped quarters firsthand.

Falck said the award will be formally announced to the senior center’s membership at a meeting Wednesday.

Rosemarie Fellows heard about it while at the center Friday afternoon. The 74-year-old said she comes to the center every day and was excited to hear about the funding.

“It’s wonderful,” she said. “It will give us more room for programming.”

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